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Many Mainers like to spend time outdoors on the state’s thousands of trails. Increasingly, more of these trails are being built so that people using wheelchairs, pushing strollers, and with other mobility devices or disabilities can use them, too.

While what makes a trail accessible is complex based on both environmental conditions and user needs, the U.S. Forest Service offers trail accessibility guidelines. The service outlines that accessible trails should be 3 feet wide, have a firm and stable surface, limited obstacles and a low grade and cross slope  — essentially, accessible trails should be relatively smooth and flat.

Other accessible trail infrastructure includes resting spots throughout the route and near steeper sections, clear signage about the terrain, and connected accessible facilities and parking areas.

While constructing accessible trails is often more expensive due to these considerations, land trusts and other outdoor organizations in Maine are steadily building them.

“This decision to be as inclusive as possible is exactly what we should be doing,” said Maine Audubon President Judy Camuso about the organization building a new accessible trail in Falmouth. “After all, the outdoors are for everyone.”

From Kennebunk to Damariscotta, here are five accessible trails that opened within the past year for you to explore.

The new All Persons Trail at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth opened this month. (Sophie Burchell/Staff Writer)

The All Persons Trail at Maine Audubon’s wildlife sanctuary in Falmouth opened this month. Its wheelchair-accessible hard-packed stone dust surface and a wooden boardwalk go through shaded woods and grassy meadow in a half-mile loop. An additional spur trail has views of the Presumpscot River. Three accessible benches along the trail offer scenic rest stops.

The new Alewive Access Trail at the Alewive Woods Preserve in Kennebunk has been completed. The 1.1-mile trail is hard packed with gentle slopes to make it wheelchair friendly. (Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer)

Kennebunk Land Trust opened the Alewive Access Trail in July. The trail is 1 mile long, offering an out-and-back journey through the woods of West Kennebunk. About halfway through the trail is an accessible curved bridge, built by a land trust volunteer.

The Universal Access Trail in Windham is 1 mile of hard-packed stone dust that gradually leads to an overlook of the White Mountains. The trail, which opened this month, is in the newly formed Windham Community Forest, also created in October following the combination of Lowell Preserve and the East Windham Conservation Area.

Andy’s Trail in Brunswick is a half-mile, hard-packed stone dust trail that circles a hay field that juts into Casco Bay. The path offers views of Little Bull Pen cove and the preserve’s main field, a favored habitat of bobolinks. Resting areas are available at vistas and by steeper portions of the trail. The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and Maine Coast Heritage Trust collaborated to open this ADA-complaint project in fall 2025.

The all-persons trail at the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust’s Castner Brook Community Forest is a 0.35-mile out-and-back path. It goes through a hemlock forest to reach Castner Brook for a view of the bubbling stream. The trail opened in fall 2025.